Ranking UVA basketball's 3 biggest recruiting priorities in the 2027 class

Ryan Odom's positional needs are already very clear for the 2027 recruiting cycle.

Feb 3, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Ryan Odom speaks in the huddle before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Looking ahead to the 2027 recruiting class, there are three specific position groups that Virginia needs to address if they want to continue having sustained success as a program. These positional needs are based on potential weak areas of the roster, as well as the types of players that Ryan Odom and Co. are already offering in the 2027 cycle.

1. Point Guard

Oddly enough, the weakest spot on the team is at point guard. Chance Mallory is excellent, but the Cavaliers literally don't have another depth-level or rotational ball-handler behind him right now. As mentioned in a previous article, the only "true" point guard behind Mallory on the current roster is true freshman walk-on Quincy Watson.

A blue-chip program like UVA shouldn't have to pull players from other positions to play legitimate rotational minutes at point guard, and it looks like that's exactly what they're going to have to do in 2026/27. Players like Jurian Dixon and Jan Vide are likely going to see crucial minutes at the 1 this year, on top of their duties at SG and SF.

Virginia currently has scholarship offers on the table for six 4-star+ point guards in the 2027 class, and it's imperative that they land one or two of them.

2. Small Forward

Ryan Odom was trying to land quite a few blue-chip wings in the 2026 class, but he unfortunately wasn't able to. It's no secret that wing play and size on the perimeter are two very important things to him, and the 2027 class is chock-full of small forwards who meet the criteria of what UVA will be looking for on the outside.

Similar to the point guard spot, the Cavaliers have officially offered five prep-level small forwards, and all five of them are ranked inside the top 40 players in the country right now. It wouldn't be surprising at all to see Virginia land multiple wings in the 2027 class, simply based on how hard Ryan Odom is going after them.

3. Shooting Guard

At some point, UVA is going to have to stop bringing in transfer portal guards and gambling on whether or not they're going to be successful in Charlottesville.

This team needs to find and develop their own guys to ensure that they'll have adequate depth and secondary playmaking ability for the future. The only question when it comes to recruiting is the type of guards Ryan Odom will go after. So far, at least based on what he looks for at the position in the transfer portal, he prefers combo guard types. Players who have decent ball-handling skills, on top of being effective off-ball and finding open pockets in the defense that they can exploit.

The program currently has offers out to four shooting guards, including Jordan Page, a 5-star prospect from Raleigh, NC.